Forgotten Trails
by EbonyShroud
Summary: When Saria and Mido investigate a rumor pertaining to the dead tree near the Sacred Meadow, Mido attempts to learn why Saria is friends with Link, the outsider child who pretends to be a Kokiri.


It was a calm autumn day in Kokiri Forest. The leaves above them were falling gracefully downwards, creating a cascade of red, orange, and purple leaves. The Kokiri loved all seasons, autumn often being a favorite. However, one Kokiri did not care about the lovely weather and was more focused on his own thoughts.

Mido sat with his back against a tree, watching Saria and Link playing on their matching ocarinas nearby. The two didn't notice him; they were too focused on their duet to notice anything around them. Mido growled angrily as he watched them. He didn't like Link. He never liked him, ever since he was abandoned by a dying tall-lady. It had been Saria who begged to allow her to raise the squalling baby. Despite the protests of Mido and the Kokiri who supported him, the baby was accepted into their society. Saria was not allowed to raise the baby, since she was the youngest at the time, and the baby was handed over to the twins. The boy grew into the greatest rival, taking Saria away from Mido. He was not even a Kokiri, coming and going from the forest as it suited him. He had no place here, or with Saria.

"Mido?" A soft voice interrupted his brooding and he looked to see one of the twins sitting beside him. He was so wrapped up in his fury that he hadn't noticed her.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she brushed away the brightly colored leaves that had collected in Mido's hair, concern on her face.

"I was waiting to talk to Saria," Mido quickly said. The girl stared at him before breaking into a smile.

"You didn't want to interrupt them?" She asked incredulously, glancing towards the duo. Mido glanced at them and scowled.

"I did not want to make Saria angry again," Mido growled. The girl stared at him curiously, her smile slipping off her face. She knew what he was talking about, he once interrupted her while she was playing music and Mido ended up being attacked by the Skull Children. She had been playing her song for them and they did not like Mido interrupting the music. Afterwards, Saria came to his house and yelled at him for interrupting them. They sat in silence before the girl laughed softly and got to her feet.

"See ya, Mido," She called before walking towards the two. Link noticed her first, breaking away from the song to say hello. Saria stopped playing in annoyance before she noticed the girl coming closer. She glowered, but did not speak.

"Hey Link! Can you come with me and help me collect berries?" She asked.

"Sure! Bye, Saria!" Link said as he hopped off the boulder he had been sitting on.

"Bye, Link," Saria said, her face turning red in suppressed annoyance. The twin noticed, but pretended that she did not care about Saria's feelings.

"C'mon, I'll race you to the forest!" The twin shouted before taking off. Link laughed and followed, reaching the girl several minutes later and the two vanished into the forest simultaniously. Mido waited until the color in Saria's face lightened before he walked towards her.

"Oh, hi Mido," Saria said as he noticed him.

"Hi, Saria. I wanted to talk to you about that weird tree in the Lost Woods," Mido answered, sitting down on the boulder that Link had occupied moments earlier.

"Do you mean the dead one near the Sacred Meadow?" Saria asked curiously.

"Yeah, some of the other Kokiri have been bothered by something in the meadow. They wanted to have us look into the issue," Mido continued. Saria stared at him before standing up and brushing dirt from her dress.

"Well, let's go take a look," Saria said with a smile. She took his hand in hers and the two began walking towards the Lost Woods.

* * *

As Mido and Saria walked through the woods, Mido could feel the question at the back of his mind, begging to be asked. Why did Saria like Link? He kept trying to forget about the question, not wanting to risk annoying Saria.

"So, what have the other Kokiri complained about?" Saria asked.

"They say that they've been hearing strange noises, ranging from howls to insect buzzing," Mido replied, recalling the nervous Kokiri who had come asking for him to investigate the matter. Whatever they had seen, it had disturbed them. Kokiri do not like having anything dangerous in their forest, so investigating all strange occurrences fell to Mido and Saria.

"Just noises, usually that does not cause worry," Saria said, biting her lip as she wondered what was worrying them. They walked for several minutes in silence, each wondering what to say next.

"Saria!" A loud scratchy voice called out before a Skull-kid leapt out from the bushes to stand in their path. It stared at Mido with its dark yellow eyes before turning to Saria.

"Are you going to the Sacred Meadow?" It asked.

"No, we are going to the dead tree nearby. Is something wrong at the Sacred Meadow?" Saria asked. It cackled before jumping upwards towards the trees. One thin hand grabbed a tree branch dangling above it and it pulled itself onto the branch, sitting on the tree limb.

"Something strange, something bad. Wouldn't advise going there," It replied, glaring down at them with a strange smile on its face.

"We have to check on it. It is our duty," Saria replied.

"Your choice. Bad choice, of course, but your choice," It growled, shaking its head before it leapt upwards and vanished into the leaves.

"What was that about?" Mido asked, glaring up at the tree.

"Let's just go," Saria growled, squeezing his hand to reinforce her words. They began walking again, not speaking again until they reached the dead tree.

"Well, we should start looking for the source of the noises. You take that side of the meadow, I'll take this one," Saria said before she let of his hand and walked towards the right side of the building. Mido walked to the other side of the meadow and began searching. He found empty burrows, broken nests, and what appeared to be the remains of a large mole, but nothing that could make strange noises.

"Hey, Saira?"

"Yes, Mido?"

"Why do you like Link so much?" Mido flushed as the words he had been pondering over slipped away. He waited to hear Saria stop her search to yell at him, but she did not stop her search.

"Well, he's nice and helpful," Saria replied. Mido gritted his teeth, he had been nice and helpful too! Why did she favor him?

"Why do you ask, Mido?" He winced at the question.

"No reason," He replied. He heard the grass behind him stop rustling and looked towards her. She had stopped her search and turned to face him, glaring angrily with accusing eyes.

"Mido, this better not be because of your stupid jealousy," She started, her face turning dark with anger. Mido felt his face flush with anger and embarrassment.

"Saria…"

"It is! Mido, can't you get over yourself!" Saria yelled. Mido prepared to yell at her when he saw something move behind her. Mido stared at it in surprise, taking several steps towards Saria in his fascination.

"Mido? What are you looking at?" Saria asked nervously, turning to see what he was staring at. The creature standing behind her growled angrily, the thrum of its growl sounding close to a nest of angry hornets.

"Saria!" Mido yelled, grabbing onto her arm. It leapt out at them, Saria shrieked as she shoved Mido down. The creature flew above them, landing on the grass several feet away from them. It skidded across the grass; it's claws raking deep furrows in the grass. It spun to glare at them, bright yellow eyes glowing hungrily and thick saliva dribbling down from it's gaping mouth.

"What is that?" Mido asked as he stared at the huge creature.

"Wolfos!" Saria squeaked as she pulled him to his feet. The wolfos growled again, the fur on its body quivering as it crouched to jump at them again. Mido looked around the meadow for something to use as a weapon.

"Mido, I'm going to distract it. You have to run and warn the Kokiri, have them convene at the Great Deku Tree," Saria whispered. Mido then noticed a large branch, hidden in the nearby grass.

"Don't worry, Saria!" Mido replied. The wolfos leapt at them, he shoved Saria away, sending her rolling in the grass towards safety, and leapt for the branch. He grabbed to the limb and pulled, slowly yanking it out of the dirt.

"No, Mido!" She screamed. Mido grimaced as the branch came free, clods of dirt flying from the force of his pull. He spun and saw the wolfos, glancing between Saria and Mido. It snapped its teeth in annoyance before it stalked towards Saria, deciding it would be quicker to make a meal out of her instead of Mido.

"Leave her alone!" Mido yelled angrily, swiping at it. The branch smashed against its back, the force of the blow snapping the branch in two. Mido stared at the remain of his former weapon in faint horror as the wolfos, now angered by the blow to its back, spun towards him. Hot breath blew onto his face, snapping Mido out of his daze. He swung the broken branch, the jagged end crashing into the creature's jaw. It hissed as it's head was knocked to the side, the left side of it's jaw bleeding from the blow.

"Take that!" Mido taunted, raising his weapon a second time. He smiled as adrenelile rushed through him. Now he would show Saira how brave he was, protecting her from the wolfos, and prove that he was just as good as Link. The wolfos roared, spraying Mido with bloody spit, and it smashed into him. He was thrown to the ground, the wolfos landing on top of him.

"Mido!" Saria screamed and she launched herself onto the creature, latching onto its fur and it's ears. It ignored her, instead focusing on something near Mido's left shoulder. Mido realized something was wrong, Saria's scream had sounded so dim and he no longer felt the pain from the fall. As the world darkened, he realized what was wrong. He stared up as Saria, whose face was contorted with rage, and could faintly see a glowing green aura around her. He knew what was happening, he was joining those who had gone before him into death. He tried to speak, but the darkness came before he could tell Saria to leave.

* * *

"Mido, wake up!" The angry grief-stricken voice broke the darkness. He tried to figure out how long he had been dead. Had it been hours, days, years, did time matter anymore? He wondered who was calling him, vagually trying to remember all the Kokiri he had greived for when they passed on. However, he could not recognise the voice.

"Wake up, Mido! Now!" He felt hands roughly shake him. Mido blearily opened his eyes to see red and green above him. Someone above him choked back a sob and hugged him, wrapping him in warm sticky arms. The green color brought him back to his senses as he realized who it was, it was Saria.

"Sa…" Mido tried to speak. His throat closed on itself, keeping him from finishing it. As the person drew away, he could see it was Saria. Her face and hair was covered in dark congealing blood, making her almost unrecognizable.

"It's okay, the wolfos is gone now. It's gone! it won't bother anyone anymore," Saria mumbled.

"Where…" He sputtered.

"This is a Fairy Fountain, I dragged you here and they revived you. i thought it was too late, how long it took..." She replied, wiping away a tear as she broke off in mid-sentence. Mido tried to look and saw several fairies fluttering nearby, whispering to each other as they circled them.

"What about the wolfos?" Mido asked, pleased that he could finally fully speak.

"It's gone. I dealt with it," Saria replied tersely as she helped him sit up. He looked down to see that he was sitting waist-deep in cold water.

"How?" Mido asked in astonishment

"I don't want to talk about it," Saria replied. Before Mido could ask again, she stuck her head into the water and began washing the blood from her face. Mido carefully looked over himself, making sure he still had all of his limbs. His clothing had been shredded, his left shoulder now covered in a large white scar in the imprint of a bite.

"The fairies say that the scar will vanish after several years," Mido jumped as Saria interrupted his astonished thoughts. He looked up to see Saria glaring at him, her face clean and empty of emotions.

"We have to go back to the village, we must warn the Great Deku Tree," Saria asid as she stood up. She gently helped Mido to his feet and together they started walking out. Behind them, the fairies called out their goodbyes.

"Saria?" Mido asked as they came out into the maze that kept fortune hunters from reaching the Sacred Meadow and the Temple that stands behind it.

"Yes?" Saria replied.

"I'm sorry about what happened and what I said earlier," Mido said. Saria sighed and gently grabbed Mido's hand.

"Do not believe that I think little of you because Link's my friend. You are always my friend, no matter if Link is here or not," Saria answered, squeezing his hand gently. Mido felt warmth enter his face and smiled. Saria was still his friend, no matter how mean or stupid he had been before. The two friends continued on in silence, Mido now happy that his friend had never truly left him.


End file.
